


Old Long Since

by TheiaNoire



Category: DC Extended Universe, Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 23:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16691140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheiaNoire/pseuds/TheiaNoire
Summary: A funeral, an empty chest, and a song sung by an old friend.





	Old Long Since

_Should old acquaintance be forgot,_  
 _and never brought to mind?_  
 _Should old acquaintance be forgot,_  
 _for auld lang syne?_  
  
 _\-- Robert Burns, 1788. --_  
  
—  
  
In the funeral, Charlie sang.  
  
It wasn't a jolly pub song as the one he'd sang in Veld. It wasn't the cheery war song he'd shouted towards the German High Command. It was something else entirely—slow and solemn, with a tune that resonated deep within Diana's chest despite her not having heard it before. She listened, eyes dry, as the smooth, black chest was lowered to the ground. Flakes of snow, stark and white, fell on top of it to form patterns only nature was capable of arranging.  
  
Somebody had handed her the flag that had covered the chest along the first parts of the ceremony—they claimed they did not know to whom else to give it. Steve Trevor's mother had passed when he was little, his father a few years before this one, and he had no sibling nor lover. Etta, looking at her from across, gave her a smile, and Diana knew. It was she who'd told them. And so Diana smiled in return, solemn and sincere, as she clutched the flag tighter to her chest.  
  
She looked to her right, to Chief who stood at the end of the modest crowd. The native caught Diana's eyes and raised his hand to his chest, acknowledging her as Charlie's voice continued to fill the broad quietude.  
  
She looked to her left, where Sameer was watching the lowering of the chest wistfully, no doubt pouring as much attention to Charlie's singing as he was to the memories of his friend.  
  
Diana returned her gaze as the procession drew to a close and the chest laid motionless in the hole in the ground, lonely and hollow. The chest was empty, as they'd never recovered the body—Steve's body, one she had touched for the first time under the sea and again in a cold Belgian night—but she liked to think that it was filled with all their memories of Steve. Sameer and Charlie, Chief and Etta all had so many more memories to hold onto than Diana, but what Diana had, she held close to her heart. For their time was but brief; she could count easily the number of days she had gone through with Steve and recall with vivid clarity all the moments with him.  
  
'I wish we had more time.'  
  
A single tear rolled down Diana's cheek as Charlie's voice faded away. The world was again engulfed in the silence of winter, but Diana could have sworn she heard Steve's laughter—a warm, hearty laughter she did not realize she loved until it was nearly too late.  
  
Diana pressed her eyes closed, and when she opened them again, she was looking up at the sky. Snow was falling in soft curtains, reminding her of the first time she experienced snowfall.  
  
That night, she was dancing with Steve Trevor.  
  
Today, they mourned the loss of Steve Trevor.  
  
A pilot, a spy, a hero.  
  
An almost lover.  
  
—  
  
 _. . .we'll take a cup of kindness yet,_  
 _for auld lang syne._


End file.
